Amy Andrews and Ethan Van Kooten, students at Central College in Iowa, converted an old storehouse into a cozy tiny home. The conversion was actually their senior project, and it cost only $489. This low cost was also made possible by the fact that they used recycled furniture and other repurposed materials wherever they could.

Most cities have an abundance of alleys and other abandoned areas, which could, in most cases be transformed into something more useful, such as a garden, or tiny apartments. French architect Stéphane Malka has made this theory into reality by building Bow House in Heerlen, Netherlands, which is a tiny urban home designed for anyone to use.(more…)

The French design firm Chartier-Corbasson has come up with an innovative skyscraper, which would be built using the recycled waste of its occupants. The so-called Organic London Skyscraper would be constructed from panels that are made from recycled plastic (e.g. plastic bottles, …), which would all be sorted and refabricated on site. The skyscraper is called organic, because floors would be added on according to demand for new housing units.(more…)

When Kam Kasravi and Connie Dewitt were faced with the decision on how to build a cabin on their woodland property in the Santa Cruz mountains they first considered buying a prefab house. But after realizing that there simply wasn’t enough room to bring in a prefab house down the narrow forest path that leads to their property, they started considering building the cabin out of recycled shipping containers. They enlisted the help of architect David Fenster of Modulus Architects, who designed for them the modern yet spacious shipping container cabin.

Early last month, Canada got its first recycled shipping container housing development. It is located in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, at 502 Alexander St. The housing project was developed by Atira Women’s Resource Society, which wanted to create affordable and quality non-market housing units to be rented out to older women.

The housing development is comprised of 12 studio units, each with a net living area of 280 – 290 square feet. All of the units are entirely self-contained, complete with bathrooms, kitchens and an in-suite laundry. With its colorful navy blue and burnt orange exterior walls, the housing blends in perfectly with the other building in the neighborhood.